Salt Lake Telegram | 1916-03-05 | Page 25 | London Criminals Make Excellent Soldiers

LONDON CRIMINALS CRIMINALS' I MAKE EXCElLENT T SOLDIERS By CHAS P. P STEW STEWART STEWERT RT United Press Staff LONDON Feb 24 By By mail It It is so dark in London at night nowadays nowadays nowadays nowa nowa- days that it is hard to keep on the sidewalks so dark that collisions with tre trees s and lamp posts are frequent so dark that passing pedestrians brush coat sleeves without seeing each other oth er so so dark that crossing a busy street Is decidedly dangerous Yet there is no slugging or robbing of people who are compelled to be abroad after nightfall Imagine what would happen in New York or Chicago or San Francisco or any other Amen Ameri can city ity under similar circumstances Criminals Are In Army There are several contributing causes for tor this Commissioner Basil I Thompson Scotland Yards Yard's head told i the United Press in explanation of ot darkened London's surprising crime crime- The chief cause he ho continued continued con con- is that the criminals are out fighting the nations nation's battles Another reason is that there is less incentive for crime The war Is fur fur- fishing work that did not exist before Every man and woman who wants employment em em- can find it in munitions works or or elsewhere Then Thea too the sale of liquor has been restricted The men with criminal records who are now in the army are making ad ad- mirable soldiers One a drunkard and anda anda a a burglar has won the Victoria Cross I will not mention his name At least forty have been killed and hundreds have been wounded Every one has proved himself a hero in time of war Make Good Soldiers Our men men men-I I say our men because our criminals are well known to Scotland Scotland Scot Scot- land Yard Yard rare are behaving wonderfully under the rigid army discipline and they will be better citizens when the war is over Scotland Yard has a carefully tabulated tabu tabu- record of every man and woman with witha a i criminal history In England and Wales Commissioner Thompson has hasI I finger tips statistics showing the age whereabouts and record of 1000 i human beings who have committed I indictable of offenses tenses at one one time or r another anI an other f r I London's ond ns n's quota is about Of Ot these some are too old now for criminal criminal crimi crimi- nal nat activity activity from from 79 to 89 Others are in jails Jans of Institutions Hundreds ds have reformed More are are engaged iz in making war supplies or munitions Most of the others ate soldiers Practically all the north and west of London hooligans have Joined the f forces went on Thompson Some of these men who correspond to the theP P Paris ris Apaches Apache are making won wonderful erful army records Are they isolated in a single- single regiment regiment regi regi- ment like the Apaches the commissioner commissioner commis commis- sion r was asked London London Streets Safe I No was his response they pre tre Scattered among many regiments so sq they do not nor feel the influence of their former former associations and are all all- the better for it It is not difficult to see from all this why women can traverse London's London's Lon Lon- dons don's streets in anti Zepelin antl darkness as safely as by daylight These women women wo woo wo- wo men who go to and from their work not to mention our millions of ordinary ordinary nary pedestrians are practically safe There are a few cases of Juvenile purse snatching but virtually no assaults assaults as as- or robberies Despite the lack of necessity for criminal catching activity swept away by the war Scotland Yards Yard's operatives are four times Umes as busy at present as asin asin in n normal times Umes the commissioner said Enemy aU aliens ns are chiefly responsible for this Throughout England a great force of detectives detectives' is keeping dally daily tab op on persons who might do the country harm Every English port too has its group of Scotland commissioned to watch and trail individuals suspicious